We’ve had several friends and family members of inmates call our helpline in recent weeks with similar questions about unlimited minute plans for inmate calls. We love assisting folks who use our products and services, and it troubles us when we learn our customers have been misled by companies preying on the needs of those desiring to communicate with their loved ones. We must make this very clear: No third-party company can offer Encartele’s inmate phone services at a lower rate. Encartele has no affiliation with service resellers. Any company advertising otherwise is simply lying to you.

Resellers Can’t Offer Unlimited Minutes

Companies like Pigeonly, Prison Connect, ConsCallHome, and Inmate Calls Connect claim to eliminate or minimize long distance charges for a set monthly fee. In reality, they are utilizing a call-forwarding scheme that is prohibited by facilities for security reasons and most definitely will jeopardize inmate calling privileges. These companies cannot provide better phone rates for inmate calling services than contracted inmate phone providers.

Any additional expense incurred by customers who sign-up with these companies unfortunately provides none of the promised benefits. Payments to these companies are lost, unless refunds are aggressively pursued. It is best to stay clear of these companies who have no affiliation with us whatsoever.

We Can’t Help You with Resellers

Because Encartele has no connection to these companies, we can’t help you cancel your accounts with them, nor can we assist you with billing issues or refunds related to what these resellers charge. These organizations even direct their unsatisfied customers to our helpline knowing we are not affiliated with their company. In these situations, there is simply nothing we can do to help, and that’s why we are proactively writing this post. If you make an agreement with a third-party company, only their service department can assist you.

The Same is True for Video Visitation

The cost for CIDNET Video Visitation and Mail services does not vary by geographic location, and that means the price is standardized nationwide. It is impossible for any third-party services reseller to reduce Encartele’s prices because we sell directly to those utilizing our services. If they claim to buy from us in bulk at a discount, or if they can claim to relocate your phone line with no consequences, they are simply being deceitful.

Conclusion

We understand that communicating with incarcerated loved ones is important and that consumers are diligently looking for the best deals on everything, our services included. That’s why Encartele is devoted to providing affordable communication options (CIDNET Mail is currently one of the most affordable solutions available). But if customers are tricked into paying third-party resellers more for our services than we already charge, everyone is worse off.

It is critical to evaluate every claim for accuracy. Some companies will try to take advantage of you; they’ll advertise an Unlimited Minutes plan at a fixed rate in bold at the top of their websites, even though it’s a fiction. Don’t be fooled by these third-party services resellers, especially when they claim to be working with us. They’re middlemen, and Encartele doesn’t do business with middlemen.